Loupgarou
by Softfrost
Summary: A part of Chapter 22 'Fire and Ice' from Eclipse rewritten from Jacob Black's point of view. A response to oXXb00kw0rmXXo’s challenge.


So, um, hi. This is my first Twilight one-shot, my first Twilight fan-fic, and I'm really excited about it. I'd really love to see some reviews, if you liked my style, if you thought I got Jacob in-character…Just tell me what you thought. Good or bad. Please. :)

This is a response to oXXb00kw0rmXXo's challenge.

Disclaimer: You might've noticed, but I said this is the first Twilight fanfiction I've written. So, obviously I'm not Stephenie. I don't own anything, especially not the dialogue from Eclipse Chapter 22 Fire and Ice, I've only rewritten it from a different perspective.

Enjoy, I hope!

Btw- Loup-garou means 'werewolf' in French. I thought it fit. Plus, it sounds nice. Oh, and if someone knows how to pronounce it correctly, I'm real curious. I don't take French I'm afraid.

--

The wind blasted against my fur full-force, but I probably wouldn't have even noticed if I weren't able to see my surroundings, how the trees seemed to be shaking and bending under the relentless force, or the way my fur was being ruffled by it, giving me the slight sensation of being tickled. Or if I hadn't been able to see the tent and the person in it (the bloodsucker didn't count, of course).

It wasn't too clear of course, but I could see both their silhouettes. The bloodsucker in one corner – was he trying to keep her from being cold? He had to be kidding, everything about him _was _cold – and Bella shaking and shivering in the other corner, in the sleeping bag, somewhat curled up.

I whined unhappily. It was killing me, literally to see her like this, cold, shaking, when I was outside here, warm as ever. There had to be something I could do. Stupid, stupid bloodsucker. Whose idea had it been to take her out here again? His leech of a sister must be loosing her talent if she couldn't even make a stupid weather forecast anymore. A whole lot of good it would do to protect Bella from the fight if she'd freeze to death the night before. I snorted, but my whole being shivered at the thought of Bella, dead, cold and pale, and I began to pace again, unable to lie down and rest even if I'd wanted to.

Now that I was concentrating on it their conversation wasn't hard to pick up, it was pretty loud to my ears actually; I was surprised at how I'd been able to miss it before – another of the things it had taken me awhile to get used to- the supernatural wolfy hearing.

"What can I do?" _His _voice sounded panicky, frantic. I ran through the options again quickly in my head myself.

One, we, more specifically I – sure he might vampires were fast, but there was no way he could beat me, four legs to two, after all - could grab Bella and make a run for it, take her somewhere with a proper heater. She'd probably die five minutes into the whole thing.

Two, we could not do anything, with about the same result, maybe a little more time.

"He's just worried about you. He's fine. His body is equipped to deal with this."

Nice, bloodsucker. Like she didn't know _that _before.

I whimpered again. We had to do something, quick. We needed time that Bella obviously didn't have. What's the use of being a know-it-all vampire if you can't use that knowledge when you need it?

"What do you want me to do?" he growled at me (not at her obviously) angry now. "Carry her through that? I don't see you making yourself useful. Why don't you go fetch a space heater or something?"

Ha ha ha. Very funny, really.

"I'm ok-k-k-k-k-k-okaaay." I growled. Her voice was shaking, who did she think she was kidding? She was no more okay than I was going to become best-friends with her leech of a boyfriend.

She's your girlfriend – I shivered slightly, my lips curling up in disgust – do something, bloodsucker! Can't even get a simple fire going? Hold it, wait- fire- Bella needs to be warm – my body's warm, bingo!

"That was hardly necessary. And that's the worst idea I've ever heard!"

I was ready and practiced; I was better at this wolf stuff than anyone else in the pack, whether I wanted to be good at it or not was the other question. I could basically turn into a wolf and back whenever I wanted to- it'd taken Sam ages until he could do that.

I closed my eyes, focusing, forcing the heat back, back further. There was a little pop- and I was standing on my own two legs again.

Damn it, it was cold! I could feel the storm now, not at the magnitude that Bella would be, of course. It must be at least a hundred times worse for her. If that was already cold for me, Bella must be going through hell.

I turned to the tent, zipping it open quickly, trying to squeeze through the tiniest possible space. _Not_ easy with 6'7. Try squeezing an apple through your nose. Almost the same effect, really.

"Better than anything you've come up with," I answered. "_Go fetch a space heater._ I'm not a Saint Bernard."

Saint Bernard! I resisted the urge to grin about the fact that I could still joke in this dire situation, a quality heobviously lacked.

Edward – it was hard to name without my lips curving into a sneer, the familiar anger running through – wasn't very pleased about my being here. I didn't have to be able to read any minds to figure _that _out.

"I don't like this," he hissed.

Yeah, bloodsucker, I _kind of_ figured that out. Actually not too hard when you're looking at me like that.

"Just give her the coat and get out."

Oh, yes, that would be a good idea considering the fact that the parka's been hanging out there since we arrived here. Probably even colder than Bella, if anything.

Heavy sarcasm. Obviously, the bloodsucker's presence wasn't a very good influence on me.

But, really. How much more dimwitted did it get? Or did _my _presence really annoy him that much? I enjoyed that thought tremendously.

I returned to stating the obvious, although it was actually pretty useless, surely he'd have heard my little rant in my head already.

"The parka's for tomorrow- she's too cold to warm it up by herself. It's frozen."

I dropped it by the 'door', it was useless.

"You said you needed a space heater, and here I am." I stretched my arms out as wide as the tent would allow – which wasn't very wide – to give them a better idea. And maybe, a tiny part of my mind answered, to make the bloodsucker a bit jealous. I wasn't the kid anymore I had been when we'd first met. Nobody – vampires included, naturally – could deny the fact that my chest had become muscular, well-trained. Only natural, of course, running around La Push almost daily.

"J-J-J-J-J-Jake, you'll f-f-f-reez-z-ze," Bella mumbled.

She was _so _stubborn. Or trying to be, for the sake of her relationship with the bloodsucker. But who was she kidding? She had to be looking forward to curling up next to me. There's wasn't anyone who _wouldn't _be looking forward to that.

She wouldn't be too happy if I said that out loud. So I took a different approach.

"Not me," I replied, cheerfully – and there wasn't anything fake about it either, the thought of Bella lying next to me…had me somewhat excited, "I run at a toasty one-oh-eight point nine these days. I'll have you sweating in no time."

Oops. I hadn't meant that to slip out, however true it was. If the leech had already been angry before…well, this could turn interesting.

He snarled.

I ignored him, crawling to Bella's side and started to unzip the sleeping bag. She was so beautiful, even like this, curled up, in those many layers of clothing, freezing.

Suddenly _his _hand was on my shoulder, a massive block of granite, determined not to let me take on more step in Bella's direction.

This was going too far. If alone his presence before had recoiled me, it was nothing to now. The sweet, acrid scent so close, calling me to fight, to kill even- and keeping me from what I wanted to do. From being close to Bella. Nu-uh.

My jaw clenched, my nostril's flaring, trying to ignore the awful scent, my body recoiling from the touch, my muscles automatically flexing. What I wouldn't give for a fight with him, one on one.

"Get your hand off me," I growled. If he wanted a fight, he could have one.

"Keep your hands off her," he answered, his tone menacing.

"D-d-d-on't f-f-f-f-ight." Bella's voice was pleading, her body rocking against the cold, her teach chattering.

Did he not care for her at all? Did he hate me so much that he couldn't lie that aside, even for her? He disgusted me more than before, if that was possible. Self-less Edward. Ha!

"I'm sure she'll thank you for this when her toes turn black and drop off," I snapped angrily, trying to make him see sense.

He hesitated a moment, my words going through his mind, before I felt the weight of his cold hand retract from my shoulder.

"Watch yourself," he growled, and again, I found I didn't need to 'read' his mind to know what he was thinking. It was obvious. We both knew he'd lost. I chuckled.

"Scoot over, Bella," I said, zipping the sleeping bag open further, trying not to let my excitement leak through my voice.

She stared at me in outrage, bursting my bubble a little. But only a little.

"N-n-n-n-n," was her only response. It sounded like she was trying to protest. First the parasite, now her. Was I the only sane person in this tent?

"Don't be stupid. Don't you like having ten toes?" I said, my voice slightly exasperated, once again proving that my humor could leak through no matter the situation.

Refusing to let her of all people stop me, I slipped into the sleeping bag, once again finding that my size was more of a hindrance than help. Zipping the sleeping bag up was hard, but I managed.

It was hard, with her body so close to mine, _not _to be overwhelmed by her presence. Her thick, long, dark brown hair, her delicate body, everything. It was hard not to lean down and kiss her. But for one, I wasn't too sure she'd take too well to that, still pretending to herself that she wasn't in love with me- and second, however much I wanted a fight with the leech, I wasn't going to let him take this moment away from me. This was heaven. Too bad hecouldn't go run up a mountain or something.

I settled with wrapping my arms around her, snuggling her up against my chest. I cringed as she pressed her fingers into my skin, an involuntary reaction to her freezing skin. She had no idea that her touch actually sent a shiver through my body that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that her skin was freezing.

"Jeez, you're freezing, Bella," I teased, pretending to complain.

"S-s-s-s-orry," she stuttered, and I felt bad for making her feel like she was burdening me with this. She had _no _idea!

Another shiver rippled through her, and I contended myself with the thought that - thanks to me - she'd be warm soon.

"Try to relax," I murmured into her ear, "you'll be warm in a minute." Feeling cheeky I added: "Of course, you'd warm up faster if you took your clothes off", promptly earning myself another growl from Mr. Pale from Envy.

"That's just a simple fact, survival one-oh-one," I countered, quickly backtracking. Buying myself more snuggling-time with Bella.

"C-cut it out Jake," she muttered angrily, not pulling away though –which was impossible in the space anyway- so I figured the annoyance was only for the benefit of her vampire boyfriend. She _had_ to be enjoying this as much as I was.

"N-n-n-nobody really n-n-n-needs all ten t-t-toes."

I chuckled inwardly. Oh really, Bella? I'd have to mention that to her again sometime later when we were alone; offer to bite one of her toes off as a wolf, or something. To make her laugh.

Time to put a stop to her guilt about the leeches' feelings. Okay, so she probably wished it was him with her right now. But still a chance to change that, right?

"Don't worry about the bloodsucker," I suggested, not able to keep a little smugness out of my voice, "he's just jealous."

Finally. A reversal of roles had been long overdue. I'd seen them kiss once too often. And even him being close to her, with her, everyday…it wasn't easy.

"Of course I am. You don't have the faintest idea how much I wish I could do what you're doing for her mongrel."

He had no idea how much that annoyed me. Sure, he was voicing the fact that he was jealous, but his tone couldn't have been more under control. If he wasn't a vampire, the closest thing to a 'mortal enemy' I had and the boyfriend of the girl I loved, I'd have asked him to give me lessons.

"Those are the breaks," I murmured.

I grimaced slightly, not keen on voicing the inevitable truth.

"At least you know she wishes it was you."

"True," he agreed, making me scowl further.

I distracted myself by focusing on my arms around her, wishing I could fall asleep like this every night.

Her shuddering slowed, becoming less and less until I felt like she was truly comfortable in my embrace now.

"There, feeling better?" I asked, pleased. Apparently, I was much more efficient than your average space heater.

"Yes."

I barely heard her reply, unable to keep my eyes off her full, perfect lips. What I'd give to be able to meld them to mine again… She really didn't have any idea how alluring she was.

"Your lips are still blue."

I contemplated if I'd already reached the bloodsucker's limit for tonight. Maybe he'd leave us alone if I did.

"Want me to warm those up for you, too? You only have to ask."

Clearly a rhetoric question. Still, I wouldn't object if she _did _ask.

In the corner, the bloodsucker sighed, making me grin.

"Behave yourself," she muttered, pressing her face into my shoulder. I flinched, again at her touch and the cold. She smiled at something, and I pressed my face into her hair.

Suddenly, I felt some movement close to my legs, and then I felt her toes press against my legs. I jumped slightly - couldn't she give me some warning? - but smiled even more. S_he _obviously wasn't shying away from body-contact, either. Which meant that maybe, just maybe this wasn't so bad for her, either.

Her ears still looked a bit pale, paler than usual, and I leaned my head down further to press my cheek onto her ear, inhaling her sweet, distinct scent that was Bella.

Again, I let my mind wander. If he'd never come back, me and Bella could've – no, would've – been like this. And there'd have been nothing awkward for her about it. No need to feel like she was hurting someone else by being together with me – except maybe Mike Newton, I snickered at the thought as I remembered a puke-filled movie night- no need for me to restrain myself, to hold back from kissing her neck, her lips and telling her I loved her. And of course, she'd be able to admit she was in love with me too instead of having to hold back, restraining her true feelings. The thought make me ache inwardly so much, I felt my hate towards the bloodsucker refuel, if that was possible Who did he think he was running in and out of her life whenever it pleased him and returning the next day as if nothing was wrong? He'd taken her for granted. Something I would _never _do.

And the imprinting part- I'd never walk in public anymore, never even look at another woman again (not that I did much of that at the moment, anyway). Bella would be my life. Forever, although not quite to the extent that she had in mind at the moment. My fingers tightened automatically at the thought, fighting the urge to grab her and run away, hide her from the bloodsucker. Anything to keep her alive. I _couldn't _let her go through with that. Couldn't let him suck the life out of her, and make her one of them.

"Jake?" she murmured quietly. I guessed she was half-asleep. "Can I ask you something? I 'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, I'm honestly curious."

"Sure," I chuckled, smiling as I remembered a recent day with Bella, when I'd used almost the same words to ask her what it was like having him as a boyfriend and me as her 'best' friend. She'd said she wanted me around, didn't want me to step out of her life. I knew it was because she was in love with me, too. She'd realize that, eventually. I'd make her see that.

"Why are you so much furrier than your friends? You don't have to answer if I'm being rude."

I chuckled, amused that of all the things she was curious about _this. _I'dhave thought it was obvious. Then again, maybe it wasn't so.

"Because my hair is longer." I demonstratively shook my chin-length hair – still re-growing from the wolf-phase in which I'd almost cut it completely – touching her cheek.

"Oh." She sounded truly surprised. "Then why don't you cut it? Do you like to be shaggy?"

Oh, crud. The truth was that I was re-growing it because I wanted her to remember the time before he'd returned. When we'd spent days and days together. It had seemed like she liked it longer, liked _me_ better with it longer. Like she'd been more comfortable without the constant reminder of the other part of my life. But how I was I going to tell her _that_?

Stupid bloodsucker seemed to think that was amusing.

"Sorry," she said through a yawn. "I didn't mean to pry. You don't have to tell me."

I snorted. What was the point of not telling her if he'd tell her anyway? He'd be sure to twist it somehow, making me look bad.

"Oh, he'll tell you anyway, so I might as well…I was growing my hair out because…it seemed like you liked it better long."

"Oh." She blushed, and focused her eyes on the zipper of the sleeping bag. "I, er, like it both ways, Jake. You don't have to be….inconvenienced."

I shrugged. I'd do it over and over again if it meant I could help her, be close to her, like tonight.

"Turns out it was very convenient tonight, so don't worry about it."

She seemed to be tiring more and more, her eyelids drooping, her breaths growing even.

I rubbed my fingers against her arms in circles. "That's right, honey, go to sleep," I whispered, my heart bursting with love for the girl in my arms.

"Seth is here," Edward muttered, ungraciously reminding me of his own existence. Not that I'd needed his reminder, Seth's howling was hard to overhear.

I smirked. "Perfect. Now you can keep an eye on everything else, while I take care of your girlfriend for you."

He just glared at me, his eyes glinting with hate and jealousy. With Bella as good as asleep, there was no point for him to hold back anymore, I guessed. I glared back, not bothering to control the hate I felt swimming in _mine. _Bella might've forgiven him, but I hadn't. And I never would.


End file.
